28 August 1969
WHAT WERE THE organisers of the Liège-Sofia-Liège to do when their road rally became no longer feasible in 1965? Their answer was an 84-hour endurance test at the Nürburgring – not just the Nordschleife but the full 17.6-mile, 187-turn (yes, really) Gesamtstrecke.
When we visited in 1969, a maximum lap time of 24 minutes was dictated and any repair stops in the pits cost a lap penalty a minute.
The field was strong: Alfa Romeo, BMC, BMW, Daf, Datsun, Fiat, Ford, Lancia, Mazda, Mercedes, Porsche, Renault and Volvo were all represented, while Juan Manuel Fangio came from Argentina to oversee a three-car IKA Torino team.
As if racing for days on an extremely long, very fast, tree-lined course in the dark weren’t daunting enough, the 1am Wednesday…